Posts tagged "DogGrooming"

Whether your canine is a pampered lap dog or a rough-and-tumble outdoor lover, its fur can quickly pick up dirt, tangles and knots. (And your furniture and carpet can quickly pick up loose hairs!)

With the wide variety of tools on the market, you can easily maintain your dog's coat and control everyday shedding without hitting the grooming parlor. Our friends at Zootoo rounded up five of their favorite dog brushes to keep your pooch's coat salon-style pristine.

The rounded bristles of the Zoom Groom Brush by Kong are effective at grooming both long and short coats, making the product ideal for multibreed households. The durable, easy-to-grip rubber brush helps rid coats of loose hair, especially during bath time. Also, the soft design makes pets feel like they're getting a massage instead of a brushing -- a plus for skittish pets.


Though curry brushes are useful for tackling all types of dog hair, the Currie Brush by Martha Stewart Pets is specifically designed for short and medium-length coats. Our tester dog's fur showed marked improvement in luster and cleanliness after only a few runs, and the gentle nubs kept him calm and content during grooming. Owners will also appreciate the easy-to-use Velcro handle.

A white poodle is dyed yellow, blue and green, and made to resemble a peacock (photo left). A chow chow's fur is trimmed and carved to look like a lion with a zebra's head emerging from its hind leg (photo below). Have you stumbled upon an alternate universe? Well, kind of.

Welcome to the the world of "creative grooming" competitions, in which professional dog groomers transform mundane-looking canines into fantastical creatures. It's an art form that has its detractors, but with the New York Times interested, and a reality television show in the works, creative dog grooming appears to be gaining in popularity.

We know it strikes a chord with Paw Nation readers because after first running the photo gallery in August 2009, and then running more recent photos last week, you demanded to know even more about this very special kind of dog competition.

The trend began with professional groomer Jerry Schinberg of Des Plaines, Ill. Schinberg held the first-ever "regular" dog grooming competition in 1973, and is credited with introducing the notion of creative grooming in 1980. "I got the idea from going to beauty shows for hairstyling for women," Schinberg tells Paw Nation.

Today, there are more than a dozen different creative grooming contests that are held each year across the country, usually as part of a larger, regular grooming competition. While the prize money for winning a regular grooming contest can be in the tens of thousands, the amount awarded for creative grooming is far less, usually about $1,500. So why do it? "It's fun, and an artistic outlet, and a way of bonding with my dog," groomer Sandra Hartness tells Paw Nation.

Forget the slot machines! Tammy Colbert hit the jackpot by perfectly grooming a miniature schnauzer named Cece. The California resident bested 35 other expert groomers in the two-hour competition at the pet goods trade show SuperZoo, taking home $20,000 -- the world's largest prize in the history of dog grooming contests.

Colbert, who runs Wildwynd, a mobile grooming business in Huntington Beach, Calif., told Paw Nation, "They kept reading off the names and when they got down to fifth, [I] started crying. And then I won and it was just surreal that it even happened."

The prize money, furnished by the World Wide Pet Industry Association, is a long way from Colbert's first grooming competitions back in the mid-1980s. Back then, she said, winners received prizes like a gallon of shampoo and a plaque.

"People could hardly believe it that there was going to be this much money," event coordinator Janice Fehn told Paw Nation. "This is the biggest money ever, ever, ever offered."

Do you like your kitty extra pretty? How about a little poof on your pooch? For all our readers out there who like to groom their pets, Paw Nation asked four of the nation's top pet groomers our burning questions -- what to look for in a good pet groomer, how pet owners can save money, and of course, which celebrity pup they'd love to groom! Meet our panel:

Joey Villani is a judge on Animal Planet's "Groomer Has It" with decades of experience as a professional groomer and former owner of a pet grooming school. Shirlee Kalstone is an author of numerous books on the subject and an internationally recognized pet expert. Jorge Bendersky is a celebrity groomer based at the New York Dog Spa who has appeared on the "Today Show" and "Nightline". Manhattan-based celebrity groomer Jonathan David was the first runner-up during the first season of "Groomer Has It".

All four pet groomers will be showing off their skills this October in New York at Meet the Breeds, hosted by the American Kennel Club and the Cat Fanciers' Association.


WHAT CELEBRITY DOGS HAVE YOU GROOMED?

Jorge: Gisele Bundchen's dog Vida, Tatum O'Neal's Lena, John Leguizamo's Chulo, P. Diddy's dogs Sophi and Chacha, Alan Cumming's Honey. I've been grooming dogs in New York City for 16 years, so the list continues...

Shirlee: I groomed Grace Kelly's (Princess Grace of Monaco) brown toy poodle, Oliver, when I worked at a salon called Poodletown in New York years ago. Elizabeth Taylor was also a customer there, and I groomed her dog.

Jonathan: I've had the pleasure of grooming the dogs of some of my favorite celebrities, including Mariah Carey, Ivana Trump, Kevin Kline and Pheobe Cates, Julie Andrews, Louise Lasser, John O'Hurley, Debi Mazar and Betsy Johnson. But when it comes down to it, they're just owners that love their pets like anyone else.


WHAT DO YOU THINK OF DYEING DOGS IN BRIGHT COLORS -- FUN OR TRAGIC?

Jorge: Most dogs love getting attention, so adding color will do nothing but increase the amount of attention your fancy pooch gets everywhere! So as long as you use dog-safe products, I don't see anything wrong with it.

Shirlee: Aside from competing in a creative styling class, or participating in Pet Fashion Week or other runway show, I think it's a little sad that people would do this for no special reason. Even if they use color that's safe, it's impossible to remove in one shampoo and it takes months for the hair to grow out. For special occasions, it's better to use a little spray glitter that can be washed out with one shampoo.

Jonathan: The colors I don't mind so much; it's kind of fun. I used to color my Maltese when she was getting on in years and I swear the attention she got brought out the puppy in her again!


WHY GO TO A PROFESSIONAL GROOMER? CAN'T WE JUST BATHE OUR DOGS AND CUT THEIR NAILS AT HOME?

Read our groomers' responses on the next page.